PROVO -- After taking an early exit from the postseason the past two seasons, No. 2 BYU coasted to a 30-26, 30-28, 30-26 sweep over No. 7 Cal-State Northridge in the MPSF quarterfinals.

The Cougars improve to 23-5 on the season with the victory while the Matadors finish their season with an 18-15 record.

"The guys were picking each other up tonight," co-head coach Ryan Millar said. "They showed a lot of heart tonight."

Yosleyder Cala led the way for BYU, knocking down 16 kills while hitting .464 (16-3-28). Robby Stowell added 14 kills while hitting at a .360 clip. The Cougars hit .370 as a team while CSUN hit .221. Eric Vance and Dan Rhodes led the Matadors with 15 kills apiece.

BYU got out to a quick start in the first set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead courtesy of a pair of Cougar service aces and early attack errors by the Matadors. CSUN responded, going on a 5-1 capped by an ace by Sean Pedersen to cut the Cougars lead to 10-8. BYU responded with a 5-1 run of its own as the Cougars pulled ahead. Northridge never led in the first set as BYU hit .333 while the Matadors swung at a .189 clip. Cala led the Cougars with eight kills in the opening game while Eric Vance had six for CSUN.

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, BYU held on to the lead throughout as the two teams traded side outs. With the Cougars holding to a 16-13 lead, Northridge went on a 6-1 run to take its first lead of the match at 17-16. The Matadors extended their lead to three at 25-22 on a BYU blocking error. The Cougars responded with a 4-1 run capped by a Yamil Perez ace to tie the set at 26. After tying the game, BYU added two points on a Northridge hitting error and a second Perez ace. The Cougars were then able to trade side outs to hold on to the set with a Cala kill capping the game.

In the third set BYU got off to another quick start, jumping to an 11-5 lead. The Matadors fought back, going on a 9-4 run to cut the Cougars' lead to one and forcing a BYU timeout.

"We needed a timeout to regroup," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "We needed to get the energy back. The team really came together."

BYU came back with a 6-1 run to build a comfortable 21-15 advantage. The six-point advantage was won that the Cougars wouldn't relinquish. BYU held on to finish the match after CSUN made a small run.

The Cougars will now travel to Malibu, Calif. next Thursday to play in the semifinals against third-seeded UC Irvine. The match will start upon conclusion of the first semifinal match at approximately 8 p.m. (PDT)

The Automated ScoreBook
#7 Cal State Northridge vs #2 BYU Cougars (Apr 21, 2007 at Provo, Utah)
    Cal State Northridge   |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Pedersen, Sean......  3|  1   1   5  .000| 39|  1   5|  0|  7| 0  2  0|  0
 3  Lischer, James......  3|  8   0  15  .533|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 2  2  1|  0
 5  Waite, Kyle.........  2|  2   1   4  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  1  0|  0
 7  Rhodes, Dan.........  3| 15  10  34  .147|  1|  3   2|  3|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 11 Gaudino, Mike.......  3|  0   1   4 -.250|  0|  0   3|  2|  1| 1  1  0|  0
 14 Vance, Eric.........  3| 15   5  38  .263|  0|  0   5|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 1  Kneubuhl, Isaac.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  2|  6| 0  0  0|  0
 6  Carter, Sean........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 10 McKniff, Kevin......  1|  1   1   4  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 15 Adams, Ryan.........  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 42  19 104  .221| 41|  4  15|  7| 24| 4  6  1|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  14  7  37  .189   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  15  5  35  .286   Cal State Northridge (0) 26 28 26  18-15
   3  13  7  32  .188   BYU Cougars......... (3) 30 30 30  23-5
    BYU Cougars            |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
 ## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1  CALA, Yosleyder.....  3| 16   3  28  .464|  0|  1   4|  1|  2| 0  3  0|  0
 7  SORENSEN, Trent.....  3|  5   4  13  .077|  3|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  3  1|  0
 11 HOLMES, Russell.....  3|  7   2  13  .385|  1|  2   4|  0|  2| 1  4  1|  0
 13 STOWELL, Robby......  3| 14   5  25  .360|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 14 PEREZ, Yamil........  3|  0   0   1  .000| 43|  2   3|  1|  8| 0  3  1|  0
 17 STEWART, Andrew.....  3|  4   1   9  .333|  0|  1   1|  1|  7| 1  2  0|  0
 2  SANTOS, Rodnei......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
 5  COX, Scott..........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   1|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
 6  SILVA, Joel.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  0
 8  PEREZ, Ivan.........  1|  3   0   3 1.000|  0|  0   2|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals..............  3| 49  15  92  .370| 47|  7  18|  4| 34| 2 15  3|  0
 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  5  36  .333   Site: Provo, Utah (Smith Fieldhouse)
   2  16  6  31  .323   Date: Apr 21, 2007   Attend: 1550   Time: 1H 30M
   3  16  4  25  .480   Referees: Marvin Hall, Les Calles

PROVO -- MPSF Tournament play begins for BYU as the second-seeded Cougars host seventh-seed Cal-State Northridge Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the Smith Fieldhouse.

BYU (22-5, 18-4 MPSF) will be looking for its first MPSF Tournament victory since 2004. The Cougars have been knocked out in the quarterfinals in the last two seasons.

Although tickets are going fast, there are still a limited number of reserved seat tickets available. Tickets are $12 for a reserved seat, $10 for general admission adult and $5 for students and general admission children.

BYU and CSUN split the two regular season matches between the two teams that were played at Northridge. The Cougars won the only post-season match between the two teams in 2003.

"Northridge is a formidable opponent," co-head coach Shawn Patchell said. "We respect them. We are not looking past Northridge. It will be a great match and we are definitely happy to be playing at home."

The Matadors earned the trip to Provo to take on BYU after they beat USC on Wednesday evening.

The winner of Saturday's match will advance to the MPSF semifinals to be played next Thursday at Pepperdine University at approximately 8 p.m. The winner of the BYU/CSUN match will face the winner of the UC Irvine/Hawaii match.

The MPSF Tournament final will be played April 27, 2007 at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on CSTV.